Closing Keynote with Nonkululeko Nyembezi

Real estate can be a vehicle to leap the African middle-class into financial prosperity. The challenges are recognizing the barriers, finding new opportunities, and enabling access. In this session, we will cover the needs for better planning, construction, and access through the lens of people involved in both the public and private spaces. We will conclude with practical guidelines for investing in affordable real estate from within and beyond the African borders at the personal and institutional level. Affordable does not mean low-quality; it means scalable and replicable for the masses. Innovators are making a difference through new construction-technologies, collaborating with government to minimize risks, and bringing unique means to connect capital for developers, buyers, and investors.

Africa is in the midst of a digital revolution: approximately 473 million Africans are online, and an additional 300 million will likely join them by 2025. Average download speeds in Africa doubled between 2015 and 2019, while data costs halved. Underpinning this growth is the installation of digital infrastructure (fiber optics, data centers, and more) serving the continent. In this panel, we will hear from the folks building that infrastructure. We will understand the history, opportunities, and challenges in this sector.

Africa's narrative on the world stage today is being shaped as ground-breaking musicians, artists, journalists, blockbuster movies, tv shows and writers take center stage. This panel will discuss pertinent trends from across stakeholders in this culture - shaping ecosystem. As Africa accelerates into the future, this panel will present an insightful set of perspectives on the power of narrative and creativity to re-imagine and visualize the direction of progress. Our goal is to highlight how African music is showcased to the world, the challenges that exist and the forces that are at work to positively enhance the upward trajectory.